NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher on
Tuesday, putting the Dow within striking distance of all-time
highs as investors looked ahead to President Barack Obama's
State of the Union address, which is expected to focus on the
economy.

Jobs and economic growth are seen as major themes of Obama's
speech, scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday).
Investors will also listen for any clues on a deal with
Republicans to avert automatic spending cuts due to take effect
March 1, including the tone of the speech.

The S&P 500 has risen for the past six weeks, putting it up
6.7 percent so far this year, while the Dow is about 1 percent
away from its all-time intraday record of 14,198.10, reached in
October 2007.

But gains have been harder to come by since the benchmark
S&P index hit a five-year high on Feb. 1. The market has had to
consolidate strong gains at the year's start while investors
search for reasons to drive stocks higher.

"We're likely to settle in for a period and digest the gains
we've had, though there's still a bias towards positive
momentum," said Eric Teal, chief investment officer at First
Citizens Bancshares in Raleigh, North Carolina. "Questions over
government spending are the big overhang, and we're looking for
Obama to inspire some confidence over that tonight."

The White House has signaled Obama will urge investment in
infrastructure and clean energy, suggesting companies in those
sectors may be volatile in Wednesday's session.

"Gun makers could also see a reaction if Obama talks about
anything with respect to gun control," said Teal, who helps
oversee $5 billion. Shares of Smith & Wesson were flat
at $9.13 while Sturm Ruger was up 0.5 percent at $53.96.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 58.06 points,
or 0.42 percent, at 14,029.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
was up 3.34 points, or 0.22 percent, at 1,520.35. The
Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.91 points, or 0.06
percent, at 3,190.09.

Housing shares were among the strongest of the day, led by a
14.4 percent jump in Masco Corp to $20.35 after the home
improvement product maker said it expects new home construction
to show strong growth in 2013. The PHLX housing sector index
rose 4.3 percent.

Avon Products Inc surged 23 percent to $21.25 as the
S&P 500's top percentage gainer after the cosmetics company
reversed sales declines and cut costs.

On the downside, Coca-Cola Co fell 2.7 percent to
$37.58 and were the biggest drag on the Dow after reporting
revenue that was below estimates, hurt by a weaker-than-expected
performance in Europe.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber shares slipped 0.4 percent to
$13.86 after it posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit
but cut its 2013 forecast due to weakness in the European
automotive market.

With earnings season starting to wind down, Thomson Reuters
data through Tuesday morning shows of the 353 companies in the
S&P 500 that have reported earnings, 70.3 percent have exceeded
analysts' expectations, above a 62 percent average since 1994
and 65 percent over the past four quarters.

Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated
to have risen 5.3 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9
percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.